forbes.com Archives - 27 March 2013, Wednesday

Canadian entrepreneur Jeff Berwick will capitalize on Cyprus’ financial woes by installing the world’s first Bitcoin ATM on the island. Bitcoin — if you’ve missed it — is the decentralized web-based currency , without the backing of a bank or government. As Cyprus’ volatile financial ...

“Only put money in the banking system that you can afford to lose,” advises financial commentator Max Keiser. This is no more true than last weekend in Cyprus when bank depositors had electronic transfers blocked and were initially told to prepare for a confiscatory levy of up the 9.9...

As with every trip, the conclusion of my 16-day cruise on the Crystal Symphony was accompanied by thoughts of what I did right and what I’d do differently next time. To recap the itinerary: Crystal cruise 6206 started in Singapore , hop-scotched up the coast of southeast Asia, calling...

Over at Ars Technica I reported on news that the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued new guidelines on the legal status of Bitcoin under the nation’s money laundering laws. In a nutshell, Bitcoin exchanges (which exchange Bitcoins for conventional currencies) and m...

WinPoker has structured the process so that players choosing to utilize the bitcoin payment method do not also assume currency risk along with the inherent risk of casino gambling. Therefore, all bitcoin deposits convert into the user’s account currency (USD, EUR, or GBP) at the curre...

Luxury travel has always been one of the core values of Louis Vuitton. Before the advent of the airplane, when travel meant boarding Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades Collection a train or ship, the French company made custom trunks and cases to fit whatever one desired. Trunks with indivi...

Now any airline with the money and determination can create a first-class suite, and many have. But the thing that keeps Singapore Airlines flying higher than the rest in my mind and in the opinion of many first-class habitués I’ve interviewed is the carrier’s service. And that’s a re...

And note who else is following the turn-around here: institutional investors. When I saw that volume spike on February 14 I immediately started digging through our databases to find out who’s up to something. In addition to that 3.9 million share day after their earnings beat — over 7...

As the fund does not employ leverage or derivatives for risk management, Exante intends to provide a two-way secondary market for the trading of fund shares. Similar to a contract for difference (CFD) , this would allow existing Exante customers to trade in and out for Bitcoin Fund sh...

Mt. Gox grew to its current size before the strict regulatory framework advanced around them and they genuinely seem like a reluctant participant in the strenuous and exhausting labyrinth of compliance measures. Although a more free market approach would have been to establish banking...

The first post I ever wrote about Bitcoin was in April 2011. At the time, the crytpocurrency had recently surpassed parity with the dollar. I declared it a bubble, predicting that it would never displace conventional currencies, and that therefore it could never achieve a stable value...

Beachfront pool at the new Dorado Beach, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve. Photo: Ritz-Carlton Ritz-Carlton is one of the best-known luxury hospitality brands in the world, and has many loyal fans. But if there is one knock the company gets in deluxe travel circles, it is for being “too cookie ...

There are two separate arguments here and I’m not sure it makes sense to deal with them together so one day to say about the “cash and the poor” argument is that study after study, survey after survey, experience after experience shows unequivocally that people who are forced to exist...

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Earlier today, the price of Bitcoins rose above $27 for the first time since 2011. That represents a doubling of the $13.50 price of Bitcoins at the start of 2013, which in turn, was nearly triple the $4.75 value of Bitcoins at the start of 2012. Of course, $27 is not an all-time reco...

Richter illustrates the ban’s impact with an example of purchasing a used car: “two crisp 500-euro bills and a single coin — voilà , an illegal transaction.” Used cars could easily cost more than €1,000 and accepting cash protects the seller, but the larger problem may be finding thos...

Today is “Sunday Political Tv”.Will they talk about “22 Veterans/Soldiers kill them selves Everyday”.I doubt it.How many other people “Commented on the subject Here at Forbes,not including Me?” = 2,wow 2 out of millions of U.S.Citizens .This is Us Veterans real “Catch 22″.Americans sa...

How To Spot A Fake Louis Vuitton: 10 Questions to Ask Train your eye to spot a counterfeit Louis Vuitton handbag by looking at the real thing in person – at a boutique or an authorized dealer. Susan Scafidi, who heads the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School, put these three ba...

I maintain that a government ban on bitcoin would be about as effective as alcohol prohibition was in the 1920s. Government prohibition doesn’t even do a good job of keeping drugs out of prisons. The demand for an item, in this case digital cash with user-defined levels of privacy, do...

With servers based in Ireland and operated by Erik Voorhees, SatoshiDice is considered a blockchain-based betting game and it is self-described as the “most popular Bitcoin game in the world.” Similar to random number generation, the site uses a method to produce a number between 0 an...

A drawn-out contest for control of Fraser & Neave , a Singapore -listed drinks-to-property group appears to be over. Last week Thai beer tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakti sweetened his bid for the company, in which he already holds a major stake. A deadline for the rival bidder, Indone...

The Chinese characters for "Hong Kong". (Photo credit: Wikipedia) On January 21 I returned from two weeks in Hong Kong and Singapore. The trip took 26 Babson College MBAs to visit with start-up CEOs, capital providers, and professors so they could learn about what it takes to start a ...

This article is about measuring value when looking to purchase a watch which is priced in the $7,000 – $10,000 range. The concept being that not all watches priced in the same class deliver “as much watch.” My suggestion is that consumers both educated and novice use what I call the “...

It’s going to be a big year for San Francisco . First, you will be able to see renowned artist Leo Villareal’s The Bay Lights sculpture unveiled on the Bay Bridge with the Grand Lighting on March 5. (It will display across the bridge’s west span for two years.) You’ll also want to hit...

Seems to me that PayPal has overstepped itself and put itself in the hot seat of legal responsibility that it should have fought harder to insulate itself from to start with. By taking on the watchdog position of policing everyone who uses their service they opened themselves to being...